Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra launches its 30th Anniversary Season on Friday, September 24th with a festive Opening Night Celebration and an all-Mozart concert conducted by Music Director Nicholas McGegan, OBE, with fortepianist Robert Levin. The festivities begin at 6:00 pm in the Green Room at the San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building. Philharmonia Baroque hosts INTRADA a festive opening night celebration to mark the beginning of the orchestra’s 30th Anniversary Season. The event features a strolling supper and a selection of fine wines provided by Randall Grahm, Philharmonia Baroque board member and founder/owner of Bonny Doon Vineyard. Click here to purchase tickets on-line:Robert Levin Plays Mozart

Throughout the season, Philharmonia Baroque will undertake a number of significant new initiatives including a Summer Festival Tour, a radio broadcast series on 102.1 KDFC, expanded education activities, and a new partnership with San Francisco Conservatory of Music that includes a master class and lecture series featuring prominent artists like David Daniels and Robert Levin and a new series of chamber music concerts.

Radio Broadcasts: Music Director Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra present their first-ever Radio Broadcast Series on 102.1 KDFC and kdfc.com in honor of the 30th Anniversary Season. Hosted by Nicholas McGegan, the series began September 12 and will air every Sunday, except the first Sunday of each month at 8:00 p.m. Featuring full works recorded live at Philharmonia Baroque concerts, each hour-long program will be presented commercial-free and arranged thematically. Broadcasts feature the music of Mozart, Telemann, Rameau, Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi. The program is produced and engineered by David v.R. Bowles of Swineshead Productions. Click here for more details: Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

Summer Festival Tour: In August of 2011, Music Director Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra perform Handel’s Orlando at three prestigious summer festivals, featuring soprano Dominique Labelle and the rest of the renowned cast that performed the opera in the Bay Area in April of 2010. Full details on the tour to be announced at a later date.

Chamber Music Series: For the first time, Philharmonia Baroque presents a series of three Sunday matinee chamber music concerts at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music beginning on January 23rd and continuing on March 13th and May 22nd. Frederica von Stade will perform in a special all-Mozart concert and programming also includes rarely performed quartets of Quantz and Telemann and a concert devoted to the music of Vivaldi. Repertoire and details to be announced at a later date.

Master Class and Lecture Series: Expanding its community outreach, Philharmonia Baroque announces a new series of master classes and lectures in partnership with the Conservatory. Fortepianist Robert Levin is scheduled to discuss Mozart on September 27 at 7:30 p.m. and countertenor David Daniels leads a master class on January 19. These events are free and open to the public.

Education Programs: Education Director and Philharmonia Baroque violinist Lisa Grodin has augmented the ensemble’s education programs to include the new “Mobile Mentor” program, which supports young performing musicians with coaching by specialists from the orchestra. The orchestra performs two student concerts this season in November and January for over 1,500 middle and high school students. On Saturday, November 6, at 4:00 p.m., Philharmonia Baroque performs a Family Concert at First Congregational Church, Berkeley, featuring violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock playing “Winter” and “Spring” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, accompanied by historical background information and engaging anecdotes. After the performance, Philharmonia Baroque musicians will be available to answer questions and demonstrate their historical instruments.

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